Merry Christmas to you all... 🥳🎅🧑‍🎄🌲🍻🎂

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"Can I say that my friend is glowing? She won't catch an evil eye. Will she?" Himani loudly said when Gauri walked to the dining room the next morning.

Mithila and Arjun smiled happily while the latter's wife stood up to give Gauri a warm hug.

"Tell me that everything is alright," she asked.

Gauri chuckled and nodded a yes emitting relieved sighs from everyone at the table.

"Arjun sir, do you have a larger sized shirt and trousers? Omkara ji might need them. He is in the shower," the guest asked.

"No need for that Gauri. The police gave this cover for him," Gauri Shastri replied and handed over the packet.

"Bhavya sent it," Himani told her.

"Oh, thanks. I will give it to him then," said Gauri before turning around to walk back to the guest room.

"We need to be careful," Mithila said to the rest.

"Shivaay bhaiyya said that we are being watched," Arjun informed.

"But Omkara has to leave soon. Should we go and ask him to..."

"No Mithila. Let him stay. No one knows that he is here. It won't make much difference as to when he leaves. Bhavya said that she will inform us when she gets any information. We just have to wait for the call."

"We both will leave now for the college. We need to fall back to our routine and make sure nothing alerts them," said Himani.

"She is right. Arjun will stay home obviously. He doesn't have a job," Arjun's wife said.

"What about Sonali? I am sure she would have told Ajay by now."

"The hell she will," Himani scoffed.

"She knows that if she does that, I will not think twice before killing her. I made sure that she gets the point."

Arjun and his wife exchanged glances before they nodded at the student.

"Okay then. We will be on alert sir. Please call us if at all you need anything," Mithila asked.

"I will for sure," came the assurance.

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"My guess is that they will approach her the same way as they got to you Om. They cannot directly communicate with Gauri. So, they will find ways like an anonymous letter, phone call or any such resort to make her come to them."

"I am not sending my wife anywhere Shivaay. Not when I know that there will be danger. We do not know if they harm her," Omkara spoke on the phone.

Shivaay worriedly looked at Karan before he stood up from his place and walked away to get some privacy.

"Om," Shivaay whispered soothingly. "I understand your concern but they have Karan's father with them. He just got out of coma and he should be in a hospital the earliest possible. Only if we let them think that their plan is going just as they wished will we get the chance of an ambush."

"Are you crazy? Do you want to my wife to be a bait? Ask the commissioner to allot a special team or something and get things done," Omkara thundered.

"Om, Gauri is my sister too. Do you think that if the plan is not full proof I will let her walk into danger? Once you tell everything to her I am sure that she would want to do the same. Please try to understand that..."

"No Shivaay. I am not telling her anything and I don't want you to talk to her either," said Omkara and disconnected the phone before his brother tried again to convince him.

"What is it Omkara ji," he heard his wife and turned around to see her walk into the room.

"Was it Bade bhaiyya?"

"Please don't ask me anything," he said and walked straight to the bathroom.

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Gauri patiently waited until her husband had a calming bath and realized that he didn't have a fresh set of clothes with him.

In some time, the bathroom door clicked open and Omkara's voice rang in the silent room.

"Gauri, give me my shirt."

She rummaged through the packet, picked out a shirt and went to the door.

When he stretched out his hand, she refused to hand it over.

"Tell me why you were shouting at your brother. What do you not want me to know?"

Omkara's head peeked through the door with a slight frown.

"Seriously? I told you not to ask me anything. Give me the shirt," he asked again and she shook her head in negative.

"I will not. You have to tell me first."

Her husband stared at her for a long minute before the door closed with a loud bang and she jumped in her place clutching the shirt to her chest.

Did she trigger her Nandi bail?

God! why cant she just keep her curiosity at bay?

Her thoughts stopped when her husband walked out with a towel around his waist. His long locks were wet and shiny, the water droplets dripping and coursing down his lean body.

Gauri's eyes devoured the sexy sight for a long moment before they met her husband's deep dark browns. Her cheeks flushed red when she noted his naughty smirk.

"You could have asked me directly," he drawled taking a step towards her.

She gasped and took a precautionary back step.

In a quick reflex, Omkara pulled at the shirt making her crash against him. Her warm hands touched his wet biceps making her heart jump in excitement but she kept her feelings at bay.

"Omkara ji, what are you doing," she scolded when he tried to lean close.

"What were you doing Gauri? Didn't you want this?"

"Stop making fun and leave me. This is not our home."

"I am damn serious Gauri. Should I discard the towel as well?"

"Shankar ji," she whisper yelled pushing him away and he laughed at her panicked face.

"Not funny," she pouted and he winked.

She smiled and hugged him while he happily reciprocated.

Moments like these kept her heart at ease. She felt protected and loved in his arms.

Loneliness which had been her constant baggage didn't knock on her insecure doors anymore.

Arjun sir, her friends, a loving family, everything she has today is because she crossed paths with her husband.

Can she ever be able to go back to her earlier life.

Last night had been a whiplash. She had been so afraid of her bad luck and insecure of her happiness that doubting her husband didn't take much thought.

When she felt his lips on her temple, she wiped a guilty tear from her eyes.

"Do you have to go now? You said that there are people watching the house," she asked.

"No, I don't need to go. Not until Bhavya tells me to. We had to be extremely careful when I came here escaping their eyes. I shouldn't try my luck again by going out now."

"That makes me so happy. I was worried that you will leave," she smiled and tightened the hug.

"I am not going anywhere without you Gauri. You can start talking now."

"Start talking what?" she said parting from him.

Omkara's eyes warned her in silence and she looked away getting the meaning.

"Don't you trust me Gauri?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"Arjun sir only helped me Omkara ji," she started and he held her gently to support.

"The day you left, I got late due to cultutal day practice and a group of men took me away."

Gauri felt her husband's jaw clench and his body stiffened in anger. She squeezed his arms and rubbed them to calm him.

"I was..." she tried to speak the words and closed her eyes.

"They weighed me down and tried to scare me. Arjun sir came in time and nothing happened," she completed her story, tears in her eyes.

"Gauri, look at me," he cupped her face gently.

"I am sorry I wasn't there for you."

She shook her head in a no.

"Don't blame yourself."

"No Gauri. I shouldn't have left you in the first place. Nothing should have been more important."

"I am alright. I have you with me now. I agree that I cannot forget the incident but I know you will help me move on."

He nodded his head and she wound her arms around him.

"I love you Omkara ji," she said.

"I love you too Gauri," he said.

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"Are you sure that Gauri didn't leave Arjun's house?" Girish confirmed with one of his men.

"Yes sir. We have been on the watch since last night. Her friends left some time ago but she did not leave the house."

"Good. Be careful with the phone call. She should be convinced to come to the place."

"I will sir," Goenka heard the reply and ended the call.

"Get ready Shukla," he instructed the key person of his game.

"You don't come with me. I can manage her," Karan's father replied.

The villain raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Seriously? Are you asking me to trust you?"

"Of course. I give you my word that I will tell her everything you asked me to tell her."

"Sorry but no. I will have my loaded gun pointed at her and if you even minutely deviate from what I told you to do or if she doesn't get convinced, she will die."

"No. You cannot do that."

"You very well know that I can do it. Stop wasting my time and get ready for the meet."

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"I am sorry that I insulted you Arjun. You saved Gauri and she means my life," Omkara apologized to his friend.

"I understand Om. You don't need to be sorry. You were helpless," Arjun said with a gentle pat on his shoulder.

"I am sorry that I misunderstood you Omkara," Arjun's wife said with a smile.

"Don't be. The circumstances were not in the favor. I appreciate your concern for my wife," Omkara replied.

"Shivaay bhaiyya said that our phones are tapped. If any of us gets a call, they would trace the number. Also, all the letter boxes were thoroughly checked. No mails as of now and if at all anyone brings any then we will know," his friend said.

"I advise you both stay in the room. I made sure that the curtains are closed but we do not know if they are checking. It will be best if we are cautious," said Arjun's wife.

"Gauri," Omkara called his wife who was silently listening to the conversation.

He gestured her to the guest room and she nodded in understanding.

"I need to tell you something," she heard him say when they were alone.

"What is it about?" she asked in worry.

Omkara made her sit on the bed with him and held both her hands in his.

"Listen to everything I have to say Gauri. This is important."

"You are scaring me Omkara ji. Is anyone in danger? Why were you shouting at bade bhaiyya this morning? Is this related to..."

"Shhhh," he shushed her and she stopped her questionnaire.

"Relax, one thing at a time," he said and she nodded trying to be patient.

"You told me that you were adopted by Sharda maa. Do you remember you parents Gauri?"

At the totally unexpected question, Gauri frowned in confusion.

"What?"

"When Shivaay and Bhavya were investigating Kalyani mill's incident, I mentioned that we had a family rival named Harshvardhan Trivedi. Do you remember?"

She nodded her head and he continued.

"Recently they have stumbled over a few photographs of him with his two daughters," he threaded carefully.

"We recognized one of them Gauri."

"Oh. So?"

Omkara squeezed her hands once again before he pulled out the picture from his pocket.

"Look at this."

Gauri took the photo from his husbands hands and gazed at it.

Her eyes widened and her throat went dry.

She stared at the picture and then turned to her husband who nodded his head, confirming her thoughts.

A painful sob escaped her lips before she was protectively embraced by her husband's strong arms.

How much had she wanted to know about her real parents.

Was she ready to learn that her father was dead?

And now, she learnt that he was the enemy of her husband's family.

How far can things go wrong with them?

"Did he ... was he behind the fire accident?" she asked, praying that she was wrong.

When Omkara assured her that it wasn't like what she thought, she sighed in relief.

"We are thinking that your father must be a victim. Someone very vicious is behind all this and he is still playing his game. We think that he is behind the kidnap of Karan's father and he is the one who wants us to fall apart."

"Kidnap? Karan's father?"

In short, Omkara also explained the recent happenings and the reason for banter with his brother that morning.

"Bade bhaiyya is right Omkara ji, they want me for some reason and it is easy to know it this way. I will have to go to them."

"No, you will not. I cannot.."

His words were interrupted when Gauri's phone rang, displaying an unknown number id.

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"Shivaay, why are you not allowing me to go to Gauri? I want to talk to her," Anika sobbed and her husband sighed in helplessness.

"Anika, please understand. I promise that once we get our hands on the main guy behind this mess, I will take you to Gauri," he told her again.

"But I want to see her now."

"It is not safe. When Omkara tried to sneek in yesterday, we had to go to lengths to ensure that he escaped notice. Everyones' phone is being tracked. The police had to slip in and give two extra phones to Arjun for our communication," he explained.

"What kind of a sister am I Shivaay. My chutki was there right in front of me and I didn't recognize her."

"Stop blaming yourself Anika. How can you know that Gauri is your sister. You were separated when you were ten years old."

"I always felt the connection. I should have known that she is my chutki. I should have taken better look. I shouldn't have let anyone take her away in the the first place," she continued while her husband tried to console.

"Bhabhi, you need to rest for a while. You will fall sick this way," Rudra tried.

"Yes bhabhi. Please come with me," Bhavya said took her hand to make her stand up.

"But Bhavya..."

"No. You need to come with me. I will not take no for an answer."

Shivaay gently rubbed his wife's back, coaxing her to comply.

Still crying, Anika stood up and followed Bhavya out of the room.

What else can she do other than wait. she thought.

"Did you tell O about Anika and chulbul bhabhi's relation?"

"No Rudy, I was more concerned about his reaction to our plan. As expected, he roared at me. I couldn't finish what I intended to tell him."

Rudra nodded his head in understanding and turned to the other person in the room.

"Are you upset Karan? You seem to be extremely quiet," he asked.

Karan, who was staring at the door through which the Oberoi women exited shifted his gaze.

He shook his head in negative.

"I will try and call Omkara again. I am sure he will understand. You father will..." Shivaay tried.

"Don't exhaust yourself Shivaay," his friend said.

"Your brother has to tell Gauri of her identity. When he explains how we got to the conclusion, he has to tell her about the kidnap."

"And when Gauri gets to know, she will not hesitate to help me," Karan shrugged.

Rudra and Shivaay exchanged hesitant glances when they heard the cop's next words.

"I am going to make sure that she will be unharmed. Are you coming with me?"

When Karan saw the Oberoi brothers nodding their heads in a yes, he gestured for them to follow him and walked out the room.

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